Diamond industry shaken up lab grown diamonds

The centuries-old diamond industry is getting shaken up by small producers and industry giants alike, Bloomberg.com reported.

Lab-grown diamonds, made for decades as an inexpensive alternative to mined stones for industrial purposes, are cracking the consumer market, said the Bloomberg report.

In recent years, the technology to produce gem-­quality stones has improved dramatically; the new manufactured diamonds are optically, physically, and chemically the same as mined stones, the Bloomberg report said.